Match Details:
Western Sydney v Melbourne Victory
Date: Saturday 30 December
Time: Kick-off: 6pm (AEDT)
Location: Wanderers Football Park, Western Sydney
PREVIEW
The first Derby of the season ended in defeat for Victory last week, as an early Emina Ekic goal secured a 1-0 win for Melbourne City.
It was the first loss in seven games for Victory, who now look to rebound in the last game of the year.
Jeff Hopkins’ side now travel to Wanderers Football Park to face a struggling Western Sydney side who sit 10th on the Liberty A-League table.
Speaking on last week’s Derby defeat, Hopkins said he’s looking for an immediate response from the team.
“Obviously it hurt us a fair bit, the performance and the defeat. I think the main thing is that everyone’s pulled up really well and I’m definitely looking for a reaction to our performance from last week,” he said.
“The girls have been in pretty good spirits. Very quiet early on in the week, which again, I think is natural. And it’s good that it showed that it did hurt and it did affect us.
“I’ve got no doubt that we’re going to bring a much better performance this week and get back to how we were playing up to the City game.”
With the return of Matilda Emily Gielnik creeping closer, Hopkins said that the striker’s intensity at training is lifting every week.
“She’ll be pretty much full-time training next week and we’ll get a good indicator of where she is in terms of playing games. It’s not until we get her back into these tougher full-time training sessions that we see how she reacts to that,” Jeff said.
“But if being ready to go and being enthusiastic and wanting to be out on the field counts for anything, she’s definitely ready to go.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash with the Wanderers, Hopkins said they won’t be taking them lightly.
“Going to Western Sydney this week is going to be a tough ask for us and we’ve prepared this week for quite a physical affair, to be ready to combat quite a physical style and quite a direct style as well,” he explained.
“But also from our point of view, we’re really looking for a reaction from last week’s performance and maybe a good physical affair might be just what we need this week, just to get us going.”
History will be on Victory’s side on Saturday as our girls in blue have lost only one of all 17 A-League Women’s matches against Western Sydney (W9 D7).
LAST TIME
Melbourne Victory 3-1 Western Sydney
February 14, 2023
CB Smith Reserve, Melbourne
HEAD TO HEAD
2022/23 (Jan 18): Western Sydney 0-0 Melbourne Victory
2021/22 (Feb 12) Melbourne Victory 5-0 Western Sydney
2021/22 (Jan 16) Melbourne Victory 1-0 Western Sydney
SQUAD
1.Lydia WILLIAMS, 2.Jamilla RANKIN, 3.Tori HANSEN, 4.Sara D’APPOLONIA, 5.Jessika NASH, 6.Beattie GOAD, 7.Ella O’GRADY, 8.Alana MURPHY, 10.McKenzie WEINERT, 13.Kurea OKINO, 15.Emma CHECKER, 16.Paige ZOIS, 18.Kayla MORRISON, 19.Lia PRIVITELLI, 20.Miranda TEMPLEMAN, 21.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT, 22.Ava BRIEDIS, 23.Rachel LOWE, 24.Laura PICKETT, 27.Rosie CURTIS
Ins: 7.Ella O’GRADY, 22.Ava BRIEDIS, 24.Laura PICKETT
Outs: nil
Unavailable: 9.Emily GIELNIK
